Bishop McNally High School
Bishop McNally High School is a public Catholic high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada built by the Calgary Catholic School District. Built-in 1990 and officially opened for the 1994-1995 school year, it was the first high school to be built by the CCSD after 16 years since Father Lacombe and the last high school to be built by the CCSD in the 20th century. The school is named after Calgarian Bishop, Bishop John Thomas McNally, who was appointed a bishop from 1913 to 1924. It was the first CCSD high school to ever be built in the Northeast quadrant of Calgary, as the Northeast was expanding during the time. The school offers Advanced Placement (AP) classes in major core classes, duel credit, and Extended French and Spanish programs, French and Spanish bilingual classes as well as offering the Tagalog language class for all students. Students have the option to challenge those languages for credits. Bishop McNally is the only high school in Calgary to have five-periods, as a way to offer more classes and a higher rate of success to enter post-secondary. History Throughout the 1980s, Calgary began to experience a boom in population, particularly more in the children and youth. The CCSD was more fixated on building elementary and junior high schools to accommodate and relieve clustered schools for other schools spaced out in the communities. Calgary was also expanding, causing more schools to be built in those areas (as reflected by the design of the school depending on the year). No high schools were built by the CCSD throughout that time, as Father Lacombe opened in 1978. However, due to the rapid expansion of the Northeast throughout the late 80s and early 90s, the CCSD got approved to open their first Northeast high school. Construction began in 1990 and later opened in the new school year of September of 1994. The school was named after Bishop John T. McNally who was appointed Bishop of Calgary from 1913 to 1924. He was the first ever Bishop of Calgary when it was established back in 1912. The school's parish is with St. Thomas More Church. Communities and School Served Bishop McNally High School serves the communities of the whole eastern side of the Northeast, mainly within the communities of Falconridge, Castelridge, Martindale, Taradale, Coral Springs, Temple, north of Monterey Park, Whitehorn, Sunridge, Savanna, Cityscape, Cornerbrook/stone, Skyview Ranch, and Redstone. Other schools within the NE are eligible to enroll their kids or stuents, however, the main feeder school kids are considered first. Its main junior high feeder schools are; * Apostles of Jesus (since 2017) * Light of Christ (since 2011) in 2010, but grade nine was apart of high school before 2011 * Father Scollen (since 1994) * St. John XXIII (since 1994) * St. Rose of Lima (since 1994) Education & Academics For an extensive course list and description, click to the BMHS Course Offerings The school offers an extensive amount of curriculars throughout the 20+ years it has been running. Offering AP (advanced placement) in a major core subject such as Math, Science, Social Studies, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, French, Spanish, and Art. However, there has been a decline in the AP courses, due to the increasing difficulty there is (as it is a university-level learning course). From 1998-2001, McNally was a part of the Japanese exchange program throughout those years, it featured a selected amount of students that transferred over to Japan while a selected amount of student went to McNally. McNally still offers an exchange program, however, it has then become rather limited and rather per student than a selected number of applicants. Language-wise, McNally currently offers French, Spanish, and Tagalog, all can be challenged regardless if you took the class or not. French is also offered fully in other subjects such as French Social Studies (Etudes Social) or FLA, and etc. for French immersion or those who are fluent in French. Spanish is also extended with certain programs that can be exclusively in Spanish for those of Spanish immersion and fluent Spanish speakers. All students follow the Alberta high school education curriculum taking 10, 20, or 30 (-1,-2,-3,-4) level courses. Religious Education is a must for all students to graduate, World Religions 35 can be substituted. ELA is offered, but by 2017, the school made it a two-period course when students are in grade 12 wanting to focus for a higher and less rushed class. The periods are run as one period for one quarter and two periods in the next quarter and were mandatory for all grade 12's. Students can similarly take extended time for other courses, but that is optional for the students. Combined levels (20/30) of courses are offered such as Social Studies 20/30-1, Biology 20/30, and Chemistry 20/30. Phys Ed 10 and CALM (Grade 11) is mandatory by the Alberta Education to graduate Extracurriculars Charity & Support Bishop McNally is with a few foundations that help causes, mainly the Calgary & Area Child Advocacy Center (formerly the Sheldon Kennedy Foundation) where they have done a bike-a-thon for over four years. Sports Bishop McNally is also known for its sports, mainly in basketball and football (as it's partnered with Father Lacombe). McNally is socially known as a basketball school, although, having last won a basketball banner since 2015. Lacombe and McNally also partnered up with a football team, although having a "rivalry" with each other, it's partnering schools make it one of the known football teams of the CCSD besides Notre Dame and, mainly, St. Francis. Alumni * Andrew Phung - actor, mainly known as a lead role in Kim's Convenience * Michelle Jang - UBC Thunderbirds soccer player * Jeremiah Charles - popular blogger, mainly known for his site Endoxist __FORCETOC__